Tom writes:
I am known for my using contemporary popular music in worship, but to be honest, it’s usually done in the context of worship in which the only music is secular – occasions like “Outro” (the playlist for which once appeared as the Good Friday Fix), occasional contemplative Communion services in Cornwall, and the Covid-defeated series, Ink-R-n8, in Essex. The number of occasions I’ve used contemporary music in ordinary Sunday services is actually relatively small. “Shooting Stars”, by Rival Sons, is one of those songs I have used.
It’s one of those songs that I first heard while in the shadow of Black Dog, and which had the power to draw me out from that beast’s shadow, if even for a short while. It left its mark, and I have returned to it many, many times – including, on one occasion, using at least the lyrics in a Sunday morning service.
To me, it’s verses seem to speak strongly to the call of Jesus to creative resistance against the powers of the world. The way of Jesus is a way that does not turn the ways of the world back on it, but finds creative ways to offer something better – love that is stronger than hate, faith that is deeper than doubt (I’d probably prefer the term cynicism here, because I don’t think doubt is a bad thing, but that’s not the lyrics!), laughter that is louder than shouting, dancing (even my terrible dad dancing) that is better than marching will ever, ever be.
Meanwhile, the chorus seems to speak of the way in which light, even a brief shooting star, shines bright against the darkness and illuminates our lives in ways that bring hope and new possibilities. All of this seems to me to speak to the heart of the Christian faith – that true justice, true peace, true light, true love, is not found through adding to world’s already significant levels of injustice, violence, darkness and hatred, but is found only through offering an alternative story, an alternative method, an alternative way forward. That is our calling – not to be bound up in the ways of the world, but to offer the alternative, to reflect light in the midst of darkness and to offer love in the face of hate.
As the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
My love is stronger than… your hate will ever be.
My faith is deeper than… your doubt will ever be.
My laughter is louder than… your shouting will ever be.
My dancing is better than… your marching will ever be.
We move through the world like shooting stars across the sky.
Splitting through the darkness, putting the light into their eyes.
Find out more about Rival Sons at https://www.rivalsons.com/
The Friday Fix 